When Royal Caribbean approached Travel Weekly to help find a UK travel agent to be the godmother for Anthem of the Seas, and invited me to be a judge, I was honoured and jumped at the chance.
What a competition to be able to run. What agent wouldn’t want to name a billion-dollar ship and be its ambassador?
But Royal didn’t want any old godmother. It wanted one who, befitting the name of the ship, could also sing at the naming ceremony in front of hundreds of guests and the world’s media!
I started to fear that entries for the role might not be strong enough. But you’re a talented bunch and you sent in videos of yourselves singing in your droves.
Each judge shortlisted their top 10, from which a final four was chosen. By this stage, the calibre was incredible. But picking Emma Wilby, of Thomson in Elgin, was, for me, an easy choice.
As well as singing beautifully, Emma had an air of grace, elegance and humility.
And her links to shipbuilding in the northeast through her late grandfather, her work with disadvantaged children through drama therapy and her role in a military wives choir made her our hands-down winner.
Emma certainly didn’t disappoint, as she was the perfect godmother. She looked and sounded stunning, and I don’t mind admitting I had tears in my eyes watching her perform.
Congratulations, Emma (who will perform again at our Agent Achievement Awards in July) and to Royal for demonstrating in the most high-profile way how much you value agents.